Another New Toy

I've got a new toy recently as a Christmas present - an eeePC mini laptop. This is my first ever laptop.

Though I've a desktop with a huge monitor at home, I've been looking around for a mini one that I can carry with me on the go - perhaps sometimes to be used in office for jotting notes and more importantly for use when I'm on trip. During the recently trips to Vietnam and Cambodia, I felt that having a laptop will be really good for writing blog entries and organize my pictures when I'm back to hotel.

To my surprise, I've got an ideal one effortless over Christmas! :)

I spent quite some time during my holiday time to equip the new toy with a slipstreamed WindowsXP + some minimal software applications that I think I'll really need when I'm on the go. And I've bought an additional SD card (it's called SDHC card, to be exact, a new version of SD card with are of higher capacity) as the secondary storage since the new toy only comes with 4GB hard drive - which is definitely not enough. But considering this mini thing is meant for real mobility, I'm very happy with its configuration already.

Just like iPhone in the mobile phone area, this eeePC has become a hot topic in the laptop industry with a lot of newsgroup, websites, forums and people talking about it (i.e. tips and tweaks, ways to upgrade and optimize it ...etc.). I can even see a number of groups already in Facebook!

Pictures Taken during the London Journey

Pictures from the Vietnam Journey

I confess that I've never been this efficient ... here comes a specially-selected album of pictures taken in the Vietnam journey ... it helps you visualize the boring text I wrote in the previous posts.

Stay tuned for another batch of pictures taken by Denis. Will probably get them this weekend 'cos I'm eager to recall the whole journey pictorially.

Vietnam Journey - Day 4 - Saigon (Sept 26, 2007)

Rushed to Sinh Cafe - the local travel agency - to enrol for the half-day Cu Chi Tunnel tour. I actually went there during my previous visit to Saigon a few years ago but I thought it looked strange if Denis hadn't visited it for his Saigon trip. Spent about 2 hours on the bus again. Before arriving Cu Chi, the bus stopped somewhere officially for the group to use washrooms + practically "allowed" the group to shop for souvenirs. Coincidentally I met my friend Sammy and his wife in the souvenir shop.

As soon as we arrived the Cu Chi Tunnel which is located inside a forest, it rained heavily. You can imagine how bad it is when you're in a forest while it rains heavily. But anyway we had to move. It was really a challenge for me to enter the tunnel again 'cos it is really a small one. I was almost exhausted already when I was in the middle of the tunnel. Denis and I tried shooting with M16 and AK47 at USD26 - pretty expensive - though it was fun.

After we were back to Saigon city, we rushed to a supermarket to shop for some frozen Vietnamese food and spring rolls. Having had a big lunch again, we proceeded to a place for massage and shower (without this shower, everybody in the plane would have fainted when we boarded the plane!) before rushing to the airport.

I really love the journey!

It's time to face the reality ... the piles in my office and my mailbox! Well, life can be fun sometimes but most of the time, it's tough!

Vietnam Journey - Day 1 - Saigon (Sept 23, 2007)

Non-stop flying - Hong Kong - London - Hong Kong - Ho Chi Minh City

After the killing flight from London, I didn't really have rest 'cos by the time I was home, I unloaded everything from my little baggage and reloaded that with old t-shirt and shorts (I plan to throw them all in Vietnam!). Managed to finish packing at around 2am and then slept for 4 hours. My brother Anthony then gave me a ride - how lovely! - at 6am to the airport.

Arrived Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon) at around 11pm. The flight was not full but when I looked around I felt that I was surrounded by 90% Vietnamese and the rest foreigners (Americans fighting the Vietnam war again!?).

I've great pleasure to see the brand new airport which was unrevealed just this month. Its design and various hardware are world-class but Vietnam still lags behind in terms of their software - the people and the operation efficiency.

Met my friend Denis in the backpacker paradise - Pha Ngu Lao. He came the day before. I was supposed to arrive with him together yesterday but somehow I couldn't in view of the London business trip.

Had some light food (costing me VND170000!!!) together with Denis after he checked-out his room. We decided to move to a slightly better hotel - Vien Dong Hotel - in the same district with room rate at USD77. It was a 3-star hotel with a decent room. We then headed to the War Remnants Museum to see some exhibits used in the Vietnam war. A lot of pictures showing how cruel Americans (some are really disgusting!) were but I guess both Vietnamese and Americans were cruel when they were at war.

Had some authentic Vietnamese coffee afterwards and then took a taxi to the general post office - Bun Dien T.P. - it was built in the 18 century during when Vietnam was still a colony of France.

When it comes to vacation, you'll find that time runs quickly. We headed to Square One of the Park Hyatt Hotel for Vietnamese dinner. The coconut drink, lamb chop, fresh scallops, river shrimps and the authentic spring rolls all deserved our big hands! If you consider local living standard, the dinner costed us a fortune 'cos we paid USD120. But with the good food and cozy environment, the price is reasonable.